Date:03/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/12/03/stories/2004120302560200.htm

Back Get set for land distribution on Jan 26, AP CM tells Collectors

Our Bureau

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, addressing the Collectors' conference in Hyderabad on Thursday. - P.V. Sivakumar

Hyderabad , Dec. 2

THE State Government proposes to distribute one lakh acres of land on January 26 to the landless poor in the State.

The District Collectors were asked to identify suitable land for distribution at village and mandal levels and get the list of beneficiaries approved by the Assembly constituency level Assignment Committees set up by the Government.

Inaugurating the two-day conference of District Collectors here on Thursday, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, said that top priority should be given for assignment of land fit for cultivation to the landless poor. Task Force officers could be appointed for speeding up the progress of distribution.

Stating that it was the responsibility of the Government to identify the land for distribution, the Chief Minister told the Collectors that no other organisation, whether it was a Maoists outfit or of any political party, should be allowed to "usurp this duty of the Government". He said that the survey of vacant land and land encroachment should be completed within a month.

The land meant for distribution comprises of Government land, ceiling land, surplus land and inam land. Targets have been fixed for all districts in this regard based on the information furnished by Collectors about availability of land.

The district-wise targets for distribution of land are: Srikakulam - 2,500 acres, Vizianagaram- 6,500, Visakhapatnam - 5000, East Godavari - 2,100, West Godavari- 10,000, Krishna- 3,000, Guntur- 2,500, Prakasam- 6,000, Nellore- 19,834, Chittoor- 2,019, Cuddapah- 4,000, Anantapur- 8,500, Kurnool- 3,800, Adilabad- 11,000, Karimnagar- 2,000, Warangal- 3,260, Khammam- 4,000, Mahabubnagar- 6,000, Nalgonda- 4,300, Nizamabad- 3,700 and Rangareddy- 1,000 acres.

The State Government is claiming that it is for the first time in the country that one-lakh acres of land were being distributed to the landless poor on a single day. In the last 35 years about 42 lakh acres of land were distributed to the landless poor in the State.